System and method for locating, measuring, counting, and aiding in the handling of drill pipes

ABSTRACT

Disclosed embodiments relate to systems and methods for locating, measuring, counting or aiding in the handling of drill pipes  106.  The system  100  comprises at least one camera  102  capable of gathering visual data  150  regarding detecting, localizing or both, pipes  106,  roughnecks  116,  elevators  118  and combinations thereof. The system  100  further comprises a processor  110  and a logging system  114  for recording the gathered visual data  150.  The method  200  comprises acquiring visual data  150  using a camera  106,  analyzing the acquired data  150,  and recording the acquired data  150.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments described herein relate to systems and methods for locating, measuring, counting, and aiding in the handling of drill pipes.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY

Modern drilling involves scores of people and multiple inter-connecting activities. Obtaining real-time information about ongoing operations is of paramount importance for safe, efficient drilling. As a result, modern rigs often have thousands of sensors actively measuring numerous parameters related to vessel operation, in addition to information about the down-hole drilling environment.

Despite the multitude of sensors on today's rigs, a significant portion of rig activities and sensing problems remain difficult to measure with classical instrumentation and person-in-the-loop sensing is often utilized in place of automated sensing.

By applying automated, computer-based video interpretation, continuous, robust, and accurate assessment of many different phenomena can be achieved through pre-existing video data without requiring a person-in-the-loop. Automated interpretation of video data is known as computer vision, and recent advances in computer vision technologies have led to significantly improved performance across a wide range of video-based sensing tasks. Computer vision can be used to improve safety, reduce costs and improve efficiency.

Handling and counting of drill pipes on a rig is typically accomplished using primarily human-in-the-loop techniques. For example, a person is responsible for maintaining an accurate log of the types, diameters and lengths of pipes entered into the well-bore as drilling progresses and responsible for counting pipes as they are removed from the well-bore. Although a relatively simple human endeavor, errors in pipe tallying can and do occur, and these errors can cause significant disruptions to drilling activities.

Classical instrumentation for pipe tallying is either time-consuming (e.g., manual measurement of each pipe) or not suitable for harsh down-well conditions (e.g., RFID tagging). In contrast, computer vision technologies can be utilized to perform many of the activities currently undertaken manually, providing significant savings in drilling time and cost and reducing the risk from pipe tally errors. These techniques provide a more accurate technique for generating pipe tallies and can significantly reduce rig down-time due to pipe tally errors; potentially saving millions of dollars per year. Therefore, there is a need for an automated computer vision based technique for measuring pipe lengths and diameters, and counting pipe segments as they enter into or are removed from the well-bore.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts one of many embodiments of a system involving multiple cameras and CPUs for monitoring drilling pipe and assisting in drilling pipe handling.

FIG. 2 depicts a potential series of steps involved in a system for monitoring drilling pipe and assisting in drilling pipe handling.

FIG. 3 depicts a potential series of steps involved in visually analyzing pipe detection.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The “Pipe Tally System” system, PTS, consists of several parts. In one preferred embodiment, one or more video cameras 102 positioned so as to be able to see the drilling pipe 106 as it is attached to, or removed from the drill-string 107. Depending on requirements, one camera 102 at sufficient distance from the bore-hole 108 to view the entire pipe 106 segment at once may be sufficient, otherwise two or more cameras 102 may be used, each of which may only see part of the pipe 106 as it is entered into the drill-string 107, but information or data 150 can be aggregated across the different cameras using the known camera positions and poses.

Each camera 102 may contain or be connected to a computer 110 which detects and localizes pipes 106, the iron roughneck 116, the elevator 118, or other relevant components. Different regions of interest for each object type can be defined using the known camera 102 geometry, or using user-inputs. Since the cameras 102 are at known distances from the bore-hole 108, camera transform information can be used to calculate the pipe lengths and diameters as they are tracked into and out of the well-bore 108. Information about the well-state, including the number of pipe stands and pipe segments 106 in the well may be accumulated on a central computing resource 110. In an alternative embodiment involving multiple cameras 102, pipe length, diameter, location and tracking information may be calculated by accumulating information 150 about the pipe 106 across multiple camera feeds.

Pipes 106 on a rig may be marked with paint or other marking system to make them easier to detect (e.g., a colorful stripe of paint near either end of the pipe 106 can help in detection, localization and length estimation).

In certain embodiments, the resulting information 150 about pipes 106 may be amalgamated into an automatically generated well-state report which may include a pipe tally (information about the pipe lengths and diameters, time the pipe 106 was added to or removed from the drill-string 107, or any other pipe 106 specific information). Automatic alarms 120 may be raised to the attention of the drill team (1) if at any time the automatic pipe tally does not match a manually generated pipe tally, (2) if a new piece of pipe 106 being added to the drill-string 107 is not commensurate with the current drill-string 107 (e.g., wrong pipe diameter), or (3) any other condition arises in which an alarm 120 is desired.

In FIG. 1, cameras 102 are mounted around the drill-string 107, oriented to be able to see new segments of pipe 106 as they are added to the drill-string 107, or as they are removed from the drill-string 107. If the rig design allows it, one camera 102 may be sufficient. Alternatively, multiple cameras 102, each of which may only be able to see part of the pipe 106 can also be utilized. In some embodiments, cameras 102 may also be able to see well-bore 108, rough neck 116 and elevator 118. Processor 110 is connected to cameras 102 and capable of analyzing the visual data 150 gathered by the cameras 102.

In FIG. 2, a potential configuration of the disclosed system is shown. Cameras 102 are connected to processor 110. Processor 110 may be connected to a logging system 122, an alarm 120 and/or a display device 124. It will be appreciated that many embodiments may contain greater or fewer cameras 102, processors 110 or other components than specifically shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 3 shows the steps involved in a potential method for locating, measuring, counting, and/or aiding in the handling of drill pipes. The method includes acquiring visual data 202, analyzing visual data 204, recording data 206, displaying data 208, alerting staff 210 and interrupting operations 212.

Specific regions of the scene (region of interest) may be identified during installation to specify the location of the vertical region above the well-bore 108, the location of the iron roughneck 116, or other relevant locations in each camera's 102 field of view.

During installation, the locations and poses of each camera 102 may be recorded. Camera locations can be finely estimated using standard camera calibration techniques (e.g., fiducial objects of known size and location in each camera's 102 field of view) immediately after installation, or whenever the cameras 102 have moved enough to require re-calibration.

In the case of multiple cameras 102, at least one camera 102 should be able to see the top and another camera 102 see the bottom of the pipe 106 at the same time when the pipe 106 is directly above the drill-string 107.

Pipe 106, roughneck 116 and/or elevator 118 detection may be accomplished using a combination of techniques. In an alternative embodiment, adaptive background estimation and subtraction models (e.g., adaptive Gaussian mixture models) may be applied to perform foreground and/or background segmentation. Since the background should be relatively stable over the time-frames during which each object is in-frame, adaptive background updating can be halted when a specific object is detected. This prevents the background estimation from “learning” the pipe 106 as part of the background. Furthermore, shape and size constraints can be applied to reduce false-alarms due to other non-pipe related changes in the scene. Pipes 106 used in drilling are long and narrow, and the diameters of the pipes 106 under consideration are tightly constrained. As a result, object aspect ratio and object size (given known camera 102 location relative to the drill-string 107) can be used to reduce non-pipe false alarms.

Changes in the background that are approximately the correct size and shape are then sent to a confirmation step, which takes into account features extracted from the detected regions. These features include pixel values, color histograms, and texture features, since each of these is indicative of the material composition of the object under consideration. A support vector machine trained to recognize pipe 106, roughneck 116, and/or elevator 118 like regions is then applied to the features extracted from each foreground region. The detections may be input into a finite state machine (FIG. 4).

Finite state machine logic systems may be used to ensure that the pipe tally is accurate by ensuring that the computer vision system 100 only increments the pipe tally when a suitable series of events has transpired. FIG. 4 shows a finite state machine which may be used for incrementing the pipe tally during tripping out of the hole.

In each state, state specific variables may be calculated and recorded. For example, the pipe tracker uses a combination of point-matching (using Harris features and SIFT and BRIEF descriptors) within the pipe region, as well as Lucas-Kanade optical-flow techniques to estimate the per frame velocity of the pipe 106. If the aggregate motion of the pipe 106 is “in well” (down), the pipe 106 is considered added to the drill-string 107, and this is marked in the pipe tally. If the aggregate motion of the pipe 106 is “out of well” (up), the pipe 106 is considered removed from the drill-string 107, and this is marked in the pipe tally.

Once a pipe 106 is tracked, its length and diameter may be constantly estimated and updated over time as long as the pipe 106 is in-frame. Estimation of the pipe length and diameter are possible since the aggregate change detection and pipe detection steps described above result in a bounding-box in image space containing the projection of the pipe 106 into the frame. Given the pixels comprising the pipe 106, and the camera 102 location and pose information, it is possible to measure the pipe diameter and length. These measurements are refined over time to reduce uncertainty and noise due to inter-pixel variance.

When the pipe 106 exits the scene (whether into or out of the well), the average measured pipe length and diameter may be provided to the pipe tally. For pipes 106 exiting the well, if these values do not agree with the same values measured when the pipe 106 entered the well, an alarm 120 may be raised. For pipes 106 entering the well, if these values are outside the normal bounds, or are not commensurate with the previous pipe 106 to enter the well, an alarm 120 may be raised.

Embodiments disclosed herein may relate to a system for locating, measuring, counting or aiding in the handling of drill pipes 106. The system may include at least one camera 102 which is operably connected to at least one processor 110. The camera 102 may be capable of gathering visual data 150 regarding detecting and/or localizing components of a drilling rig which may include pipes 106, drill pipes, roughnecks 116, elevators 118, drill-string components and combinations thereof The processor 110 may be configured to analyze the visual data and may also be operably connected to the pipe elevator 118. The processor may be configured to halt elevator 118 operations when the visual data is outside of a pre-determined set of conditions. The system may also include at least one logging system 124 connected to said processor 110 for recording said visual data 150 and any analyzed data.

Certain embodiments may also include a display system 122 for displaying the collected and/or analyzed data. Embodiments may include a camera 102 which also comprises the processor 110. Embodiments of the system may also include an alarm 120 for alerting staff to the occurrence of a predetermined condition.

Disclosed embodiments may also relate to a method for locating, measuring, counting or aiding in the handling of drill pipes. The method includes acquiring visual data from at least one camera 102, analyzing said visual data 150, recording said analyzed data and disrupting the operations of a pipe elevator in response to a pre-determined condition.

Certain embodiments may also include displaying the acquired, analyzed or recorded data on a display device 122. Embodiments may also include alerting staff to any occurrence of a pre-determined condition or any measurement that falls outside of a pre-determined range using an alarm 120.

Additional embodiments relate to a system for assisting in the handling of drill pipe segments. The system may include a well-bore 108 which is being worked by a drill-string 107. The drill-string 107 may comprise a plurality of drill pipe 106 segments. The system may also contain at least one camera 102 configured to observe the addition or subtraction of drill pipe 106 segments to the drill-string 107 and gathering visual data 150. The camera 102 may be operably connected to a processor 110. The process 110 may be capable of analyzing the visual data 150.

Certain embodiments may also include a logging system 124 connected to the processor 110. Embodiments may also include a display system 122 for displaying the collected and/or analyzed data. Some embodiments may include a camera 102 which includes a processor 110. Embodiments may also contain an alarm 120 for alerting staff of the occurrence of a pre-determined condition. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for locating, measuring, counting, aiding or adjusting the handling of drill pipes, the system comprising: at least one camera, said camera operably connected to at least one processor wherein said camera is capable of gathering visual data regarding detecting, measuring, localizing or any combination components selected from pipes, roughnecks, elevators, and combinations thereof and transmitting the data to the processor; the processor configured to analyze the visual data, the processor operably connected to the drill pipe elevator and configured to adjust, alter, or halt elevator or roughneck operations when the visual data indicates a scenario within or outside of a pre-determined set of conditions; and, at least one logging system connected to said processor for recording said data.
 2. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one display system for displaying the collected or analyzed data.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein said camera comprises said processor.
 4. The system of claim 1, further comprising an alarm for alerting staff to the occurrence of a pre-determined condition.
 5. A method for locating, measuring, counting or aiding in the handling of drill pipes, the method comprising: acquiring visual data from at least one camera, analyzing said visual data, recording said analyzed data; and disrupting elevator operations in response to the occurrence of a pre-determined condition.
 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising displaying the acquired, analyzed, or recorded data.
 7. The method of claim 5, further comprising alerting staff to the occurrence of a pre-determined condition.
 8. A system for assisting in the handling of drill pipe segments comprising: a well-bore, wherein the well-bore is being worked by a drill-string, said drill-string comprising a plurality of drill pipe segments; at least one camera configured to observe the addition or subtraction of drill pipe segments to the drill-string and gathering visual data, said camera operably connected to at least one processor wherein the processor is capable of analyzing the visual data, the processor operably connected to the elevator and configured to adjust, alter, or halt elevator or roughneck operations in response to a pre-determined condition.
 9. The system of claim 8, further comprising a logging system connected to said processor.
 10. The system of claim 8, further comprising at least one display system for displaying the collected or analyzed data.
 11. The system of claim 8, wherein the at least one camera comprises the processor.
 12. The system of claim 8, further comprising an alarm for alerting staff to the occurrence of a pre-determined condition. 